Divination before Baptism. Divination, conspiracies and signs for Epiphany

Know your future - what awaits in the new year, whether desires will be fulfilled, whether the child will be born, whether there will be a wedding, etc. - surely many would like to. Hardly the best time for fortune telling is the last day of Christmas - Baptism. Or rather, the night before this holiday. At this time, various fortune-telling were conducted. True predictions could be obtained using a variety of subjects: candles, rings, matches, coins, etc. And of course, very often on Epiphany for fortune-telling they took baptismal water.

A bit of history

The night of Baptism in the past centuries in the Russian villages was considered special. The old year has already left, but the new one was just beginning, the future was dark and uncertain. By conducting prediction rituals, people tried to clarify their lives.

Of course, such ceremonies have never been approved by the Christian church. Divination before Baptism, just like at any other time, was considered a sin. Therefore, our ancestors, before embarking on any actions related to the prediction, usually took off their own cross and cleaned all the icons from the room. After the ritual, a person must have been washed by baptismal water. Thus, he seemed to take off from himself, though small, but still a sin.

Some fortune-telling fortune-telling was considered quite harmless. Others were classified as "scary", because not all of them were solved.

Where and when to look at Epiphany

Usually all the rituals of predictions were conducted on January 18, late at night or at night. Such conditions of divination allowed to create a corresponding quiet and at the same time mysterious atmosphere. In some cases, the ceremony should be started only at 12 o'clock in the morning. In others, the exact time did not matter. The main thing - that it was already dark outside.

Sometimes the prediction rituals were conducted on the street. At the same time the guessing man should have gone somewhere: to the intersection, to the cemetery, to the outskirts, to the river, etc. Other rituals were held directly in the house: in the upper room, in the steps or in the bedroom. So, how did our ancestors predict their fate for the year on the night before Baptism? Next, consider the most interesting rituals, many of which are popular today.

Guessing on the Mirror

This prediction ritual is considered one of the most dangerous. Of course, many people heard about him. After spending it, the girl can see her future fiancé. For this divination, you need to prepare two mirrors and two candles in advance. At five to twelve at night on Epiphany, one mirror should be placed in front of you, and the second behind your back in such a way that a corridor appears in the reflection. Near the first mirror you need to place two candles. Also, prepare matches and a piece of white cloth.

The fortune-telling on the mirror is as follows. At exactly 12 noon the candles are lit. With the hours of the fortune-teller begins to peer into the mirror "corridor", trying to see his betrothed there. Sometimes a conspiracy, usually starting with the words: "My betrothed, appear to me, dressed up ...".

With the last word in the mirror, supposedly appear a shadow, gradually taking shape of the male figure. The girl who saw the girl's face had to immediately put out the candles and throw a white cloth on the mirror. Otherwise, some kind of trouble could have happened to her. It was believed that in the image of narrowed in the mirrors appears none other than the devil. It was also forbidden during the ritual to look back and even more so to look in the mirror behind the back.

Fortune-telling with a candle and water

This rite was held earlier in order to find out your fate for the next year. For divination in this case, it was necessary to prepare a candle and a wide low bowl. It was also necessary to collect clean snow from the roof and melt it. It was allowed to replace such water with a church, a saint. At midnight, at Baptism, she was poured into a bowl and placed in front of her. Then they lit a candle, waited for the appearance of melted wax and poured it into the water. By the type of figure formed in the bowl, and determined their fate for the coming year.

Wax "signs" in the water could turn out very different:

• Asterisks denote success in business and study;
• Ovals and drops - wealth;
• Heart - love ";
• Flowers - marriage, etc.

Similar guessing with a candle, some young people spend in our time, slightly simplifying the ritual. In this case, not a wax, but an ordinary sheet of paper is used. The desire is written on it, after which it is ignited by a candle. Ash remains are placed in a cup with low sides. Lighting them with a candle in such a way that shadows rest on the wall, you can determine your fate for the next year.

Divination by rings

This type of prediction was also very common in the old days. Guessing on the ring was usually conducted in order to find out whether for a long time to go to the girls. On the night of Epiphany, several girls gathered in one room, spread a piece of black velvet on the table and lit candles. Then each took off a ring from his finger and rolled it over the fabric. Where it stopped and fell, a mark was made. The girl, whose ring was rolling away farthest, was supposed to marry later.

Through the conduct of such a ritual as guessing on the ring, they also learned how many years the wedding would take place. For the ritual, the glass was filled with water for 2/3. A married girlfriend was asked for a wedding ring for a while. We hung it on our hair and carefully lowered it into the water. Then they also gently removed it, trying to move their hand as smoothly as possible. At the same time, the ring on the hair began to swing. By the number of times it hit the walls of the glass, they considered the years remaining before the wedding. Modern girls with short hair cuts can be replaced with a regular thread.

Prediction for the year

To learn the fate for the nearest 365 days it is possible and by means of usual wine-glasses. As our ancestors believed, this is a fairly accurate guessing. In addition, it is still quite fun. In addition to wine glasses or some other small vessels, you need to prepare a small handful of salt, a piece of sugar, a match or a stick, a ring, a coin and a piece of bread for the ritual. After this, you should wait for the night.

It is spent such divination for a year so:

• As soon as the window is dark, you should put in each glass of any of the cooked items.
• Next, the person who wants to win is blindfolded.
• Someone from the free ritual participants after this several times swaps the glasses.
• Then the participant with the blindfold comes to the table and takes the first one which has got.

Such guessing on the person allows to learn destiny most precisely. Bread in this rite means a well-fed life, a coin is a big profit, a match is the appearance of a child, a ring is marriage or marriage, salt is hard times, sugar is good luck.

Prediction from the Church

The divination for a year with water and a candle, glasses, etc. was considered to be quite accurate. However, the most truthful to our ancestors seemed all the same "terrible" rituals of prediction. For example, guessing at the gate of the church.

If you want to know your destiny for a year, at 12 o'clock on the night of Epiphany, you should go to the closed doors of the church and start listening. Of course, there could not be any physical sounds at that time. However, the subconscious mind of the diviner mysteriously reacted to the unusual situation. As a result, the conducting ritual began to hear any otherworldly sounds. If it was a "noise" of the wedding, then soon it was worth waiting for the appearance in the life of the second half. If the sounds of the funeral service were heard outside the door of the church, this was a harbinger of the fact that in the family of a diviner within a year someone will die. The same thing awaited a man who decided on such guessing, and in the event that a dull knock was heard from behind the door. The wedding, in addition to cheerful noise, was predicted also by the sound of bells. It's actually scary, but it was believed to be accurate guessing.

Prediction on other people's conversations

This method of divination was very common among the majority of Slavic peoples. On the night of Epiphany, the girls and young men approached the windows or doors of other people's houses and overheard conversations. Divination by fate in this way was also considered very truthful. Important in it was absolutely everything. If a person was angry, it predicted future quarrels and scandals in the family. If the house had fun, it meant the upcoming good events. You can also make a prediction on the first phrase you heard. In approximately the same way, our contemporaries, who trust different kinds of divination, will know their destiny by lines in the book.

Prediction in a dream

There were a lot of ways of such guessing from our ancestors. Very interesting is the rite, which is also carried out using a mirror. This is a very simple and completely not terrible guessing. Prediction in this case makes a small mirror - an object that has long been considered mysterious and mysterious. In the evening he was taken out into the street and left there for a while. In addition, a few spruce branches were cut. Before going to bed, the mirror was brought into the house, they wrote a finger on it with their finger and placed a reflective layer under the bed. Then he was overlaid with fir branches. In the morning they took out a mirror and checked to see if the inscription had been preserved on it. If not, then the desire was soon to be fulfilled.

Another common way of getting information about the future in a dream was to use four card kings. Thus, the divination was conducted for her husband. In order to find out what the future spouse will be, they put cards on the evening of January 19 under a pillow. The dreamed peak king meant an early marriage with a man older than the guessing one; Club king - a wedding with a business man or a military man; Diamond - marriage with a familiar person; Chervovy - a successful marriage with a rich man.

Such a guessing on a man who later must become a husband is true enough. However, sometimes no girl ever dreamed of any of the kings. In this case, in the morning, she simply shoved her hand under the pillow and pulled out the first card she had found. Its meaning was solved exactly as described above.

Once in the villages there was another method of guessing in a dream. Wishing to see the future groom girl did not comb for the night and put a comb next to the pillow. Before going to sleep, she had to repeat the following phrase several times: "Come to me, cut off, comb my hair." Sometimes such a divination before the Epiphany was also carried out in a different way. The girl ate a little salt and the whole evening did not drink water. Before going to sleep, she said: "Come to me, cut off, water me with water."

Predictions on grains

Very often in the villages in ancient times, and conducted quite a few interesting fortune-telling. True predictions in this case "did" the usual domestic cock. The owners, wishing to know their destiny for the next year, just scattered the grain on the floor and launched a bird into the house. Then we looked how the cock behaves. If he nibbled all the grain - then the family in the coming year was waiting for luck. If you have not touched any - poverty and misfortune will come.

A few fortune-telling on a future husband

To receive any information on the subject could be in other ways. For example, to find out where he lives, it was necessary to go out on the night of Epiphany to get out of the outskirts, take off his boots or boots and throw him away in front of him. Then I had to go up to him and see where the sock was pointing. On the other side, the matchmakers should have waited. If the sock pointed back to the village, no wedding was expected this year.

Divination by her husband was carried out and a little differently. To conduct the ritual, one should take an ordinary broom and begin revenge on the room. Waving to the right, it was necessary to say a prayer, to the left - a curse. After sweeping out the whole room, it was necessary to draw a piece of coal across the room and stand on the right side of it. Next, it was necessary to say: "Serve-mummified, appear before me."

Plots for wealth

If the fortune telling on the fate of Epiphany for any reasons was disappointing, on the same day it was possible to try to remedy the situation. In various magical ways our ancestors often, for example, try to correct their monetary affairs. Very common in the villages of our country was an uncomplicated ritual with a can.

This ceremony can be held today. In addition to the can, it is necessary to prepare a cross, christened water, one yellow coin and two white coins made by oneself independently from the sticks (you can vice versa). The can itself must be made of unpainted material. In it you need to pour water and throw coins. The cross is hung on the lace or thread on the side.

On the Epiphany night read a spell above the water with the following content:

"I get up at night, I take out the church water. Dark night, holy water, cleanse the body and soul. Arrive the angels, fall upon me with wings, call God to me. God at the table I plant, I treat to various dishes, to John the Forerunner and the Blessed Virgin Mary I pray. May the saints not leave me, but be freed from spiritual filth, from the sins that have been committed by me. Clean entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven! Amen!"

After the conspiracy is pronounced, it is also necessary to read the prayer of the Epiphany to the Lord over a can of coins.

Divination with water was spent on Baptism in antiquity very often. The same applies to rituals with spells. After all, even today, many are convinced that on this day absolutely all the water becomes holy and acquires special power.

If desired, at Baptism, you can conduct a less complicated rite to attract wealth. In this case, water will also be needed. In order that in the coming year not to feel the need, you just write on a piece of paper a special plot and read it over a glass. Of course, the latter is pre-filled with Epiphany water. At the end of the spell, the leaf is burnt. It should be thrown in a glass. After that the Epiphany water is drunk. Plot on a piece of paper is written this:

"I will rise, servant of God (such and such), blessing, I will go cross-dressing, to the clear sea on Buyan-island. There lies the stone of Alatyr, and on the stone the Virgin Mary sits, asks and prays to the Lord for our sins. I will ask the Most Pure Virgin to drive away evil and misfortune from me, failure and poverty. The key is in the sea, the tongue is in the mouth. Amen!"

The plot of love

Not only fortune telling before the Baptism of the condemned or destiny, but also any other rituals that are held on this day, have a special power. If desired, by arranging a certain rite, you can, for example, easily attract the attention of the attracted person of the opposite sex or return someone's love.

For the ritual, which will be described below, you need to prepare a glass with water, a photograph of the person to be charmed, a candle of white, red or pink color and a box of matches. Begin the ritual at 12 o'clock in the morning. The candle is sprinkled with baptismal water and waited for it to dry. Then light it from the match and put the last one next to it. The photo is folded into a tube and taken in the left hand. In the right holding a glass filled with Epiphany water. Thus, you need to stand for a couple of minutes, discarding all unnecessary, negative thoughts. With the words "the kingdom of God's servant (such-and-such), and me his love" photo is lowered into the water. Then the glass is put back on the table and crisscrossed three times.

Next, take a match next to him and light it from the candle. As soon as she completely burns, she is thrown into a glass with the words: "Help me !!!" Thus the spirits of water and fire are summoned. After uttering these words, the glass should be covered with a blank sheet of paper and hidden in a secret place for a year.

Signs of Epiphany

Old fortune-telling, held on this day, and today many are considered especially true. The same applies to spells. The conspiracy for baptism pronounced with the performance of certain actions has a special power. However, it is possible to learn about what events will happen in life in the coming year, simply by various signs.

For example, to hear baptismal night barking dogs - to wealth. It was believed that animals thus call a person to hunt, which promises a rich prey. Divination-prediction on Epiphany could be arranged and, after observing the behavior of the cat. She was taken out into the street and waited for her to return to the house. Luck and wealth waited for the owners in the event that the cat stepped over the threshold from the left paw.

In the evening on Epiphany, the young men and girls went out into the street and watched who would be their first. If a young man is to fun, wealth and happiness. If old - to illness and poverty. Well, it's about the custom to ask the first person who comes across the name, probably everything. It was believed that this is one of the surest ways to find out how the future spouse will be called.

It was also considered a good sign to get under a heavy snowfall on Epiphany night. Man in this case was waiting for happiness and joy. For those who dared to swim in the ice hole at Epiphany, there was another good sign. The year was expected to be successful if a young man dived into the water before the diver.

Someone calls divination before Baptism a superstition, someone considers them to be a sin, and someone believes in them unconditionally. You can treat them as you please. However, as echoes of past beliefs, they are certainly unusually interesting.